Abstract

Online social shopping communities are gradually becoming prevalent with the dissemination of e-commerce and social media. Community users or consumers can generate their own contents or engage in social activities while shopping without switching between platforms. The level of engagement and actual purchase, however, are unsatisfactory. Although, prior scholars have examined possible factors (e.g. satisfaction, experience) that can improve participation or purchase in community, they have failed to explore their internal relationships. In this research, we unpack the concept of user satisfaction and adopt the four-dimension user experience principle to improve participation and purchase intention more efficiently. We assume that different components of user experience may have distinct influences on economic and social user satisfaction. Moreover, the impacts of economic and social satisfaction on participation and purchase may differ. An empirical survey of users in online social shopping communities in China will be conducted to test the assumptions. Potential implications for theory and practice will also be discussed.